The Unspeakable's Secret
by Cat97Hermione
Summary: Lily Potter was an Unspeakable. Wait, WHAT! I though she was unemployed! Nope, Lily was an Unspeakable, so what happens when her colleagues discover her death? Harry's not going to grow up at the Dursleys, that's for sure. So, how does Harry turn out with a slightly different view of family and the knowledge of magic? "I know!" "Be quiet, you read the story already." ON HOLD!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One;**_

"Falcon! The wards have been breached around Flame's residence!" came a nervous voice.

"Rith? Is that you? The wards around Flame's... she was in hiding for a good reason! Status?"

"Her husband is down... she and the child are left."

"Stand by, Rith, I'm going over there," said Falcon as she pulled on a nondescript gray robe and pulled up the hood. It was impossible to tell that she had short brown hair, or dark eyes... you couldn't see the battle scars littering her face and body. You couldn't distinguish any part of her body to tell her apart from another person even if you looked closely... not that you would, as there were charms on every inch of the clothing to make people completely disinterested in her.

"You're going?" called Rith, "This is going to be a major night, tonight, isn't it Falcon?"

"Yes, Rith, it is. More than you know," she sighed before moving out of the building. Flame had given her portkey access to her home, so it was a complete shock that when she activated it, she bounced away from the wards of the home.

"This isn't good," she mumbled, "They really don't want anyone to escape today." Feeling anxious, Falcon crept towards the building in time to see a huge magical backlash explode the roof of the house.

"Oh, Chocolate Frogs," she moaned, using words that unless you heard the tone of your voice, her meaning would have confused anyone; and quickened her pace. This was not good... She opened the door of the little cottage and gulped. The man, James Potter, she remembered- was lying dead near the door, his expression one of complete defiance. She mentally applauded the man who had died protecting his family before she began to move deeper into the home that was beginning to crumble around her. Soon enough, she found the stairs and began to climb. The target had been the baby, so Falcon made her way up the stairs and into the nursery. The quiet was extremely disconcerting. She opened the door and gasped. Flame was lying dead in front of the child's crib, her face twisted into an expression of complete determination. But... the black robes opposite her were confusing. What had happened? She looked up when she heard a sound and gasped again. The child was still there, and alive, bleeding profusely from a head wound that had dark magical residue on it... it reminded her of the killing curse. Baffled, she picked up the dark wand lying beside the extra set of robes. It was definitely Voldemort's. Gulping, she pulled out her own. The Priori Incantatem... 3 killing curses, the first had killed James. The second; Flame... Lily. The third...

"No," she whispered, staring at the bleeding forehead, "that's impossible." But it was true. The child, barely a year old, had defeated Voldemort. He wasn't safe though. Looking down at her colleague, Falcon made her decision. He couldn't remain here; Dumbledore would send him off to live with muggles if she knew the man. The boy would be famous, that's for sure, and leaving him to the mercy of just any Wizarding family wasn't acceptable either. Slowly, she picked him up so she wouldn't frighten him. She began cleaning the wound. But paused when she heard a crash downstairs. She needed to hurry; Dumbledore was going to get here soon. She quickly conjured writing utensils and a square of parchment.

_Headmaster Dumbledore,_

_I am sure that you will get this letter. Voldemort has vanished. He cast the killing curse at Harry and it rebounded onto the man, leaving him gone and Harry quite alive. I do not trust you or anyone else with him, so I am taking him. You will see him when he is old enough to attend Hogwarts. Possibly._

_Thank you for your co operation,_

_Lily's friend._

Falcon smiled. It wouldn't do any good to mention that they were colleagues, that would give the game away- as far as the rest of the world knew, Lily Potter was unemployed... well, you don't just announce that you work for the Unspeakables. Falcon sniffed once, before activating the return portkey- the wards had fallen at the same time as Voldemort- it would explain the magical backlash.

"Rith, I'm back," she called softly, "and I brought someone with me."

"Flame?" he called hopefully. Falcon shook her head.

"No, I didn't get there on time... Flame died," she said, "but you'll never guess what happened next!"

"What?" asked Rith, not sounding at all curious.

"Voldemort cast the killing curse at her son, Harry-" Rith gasped, "and it rebounded. Voldemort's gone, defeated by a small child. I've got him here."

"Wow," said Rith, looking as though he was afraid to believe it, "so what are you going to do with Harry?"

"We'll have to raise him."

"What?"

"Would you really trust Flame's child with anyone else? Dumbledore would send him off to live with muggles. Trust me, I've met Flame's sister and her husband, they hate magical people and everything to do with them. They wouldn't care for Harry. We can't just auction him off to the highest bidding Wizarding family, though, and that is what would happen if he didn't go with Dumbledore. He'd grow up with a Voldemort-supporting family!" Rith bit his lip.

"You're right," he said slowly, "but you'll have to talk to Silver, and then... would you raise him yourself, or would he grow up knowing everyone here?" Falcon bit her lip.

"I'm not sure," she said finally, "I don't think I can raise a child, but Silver might not like the other option."

"I think you'll be fine," said Rith, "Silver would probably take it as an opportunity to get a good operative in this department for once. Goodness knows the skill levels have been dropping dramatically over the last few years." Falcon bit her lip.

"It would be good to have a well-trained operative for once, but I want him to grow up at least somewhat normally!"

"Relax, Falcon, you'll be fine... he'll be fine. Go and see Silver."

"It's alright, I heard everything," said an old but powerful voice, "and I'm glad you have so much confidence in me." Falcon bit her lip.

"Sorry, Silver," she said.

"Relax, Falcon, you were speaking the truth. To be frank, I agree with you. He can grow up with us, and have a semblance of a normal childhood, but even so... it would be interesting to see what would happen if he was introduced to the Unspeakable's power boosts so young."

"What?"

"Relax, Falcon, they wouldn't harm him... they just might work better than usual. Of course, the information would come to nothing. It is too dangerous to be introducing everyone to them, as too many people would be swayed by the power so young in life. We will have to monitor him carefully." Falcon thought for a while before slowly nodding.

"As long as he learns how to have fun once in a while," she said finally. Silver smiled.

"Indeed, we will all hope for that. So... what will his name be?" Falcon looked up sharply.

"No," she said, "He will only be known as Harry or Harry Potter until he is old enough to understand." Silver grinned.

"Relax, Falcon, we need to know more about him before we give him a name, anyway. I will make the announcement to the rest of the crew and you might get Mere and Snake to look at that cut on his forehead... the magical residue should have left by now, so whatever it is... it's a lingering darkness from the curse." Falcon nodded.

"I was going to get them to look at it anyway," she admitted, "I was going now. Bye, Silver... coming, Rith?"

"Awww... and here I was thinking the pair of you had forgotten about me," he pouted. Falcon rolled her eyes.

"You need to speak up a little more," she said, shooting an exasperated glance at Silver as she passed him. "Now let's go!"

"So... what section do you think he'll join when he's older?" asked Rith.

"I suppose he really will have to join if he's growing up in here... we can't obliviate his whole childhood away! We'll have to learn more about him, of course, but I think he'll be going out into the field when he's older," she admitted, "both Lily and James were brilliant fighters when they had to be, and growing up here will make him even better no matter what section we try and prompt him towards." Rith nodded.

"That makes sense. Still, I could teach him a little about wards... they really need a trained warder out on the field, it would make our lives so much easier," he complained. Falcon rolled her eyes.

"If you're so terrified about going out onto the field, why did you choose to specialise in something so practical?"

"I wanted to be a Curse-Breaker, not an auror!"

"You are a curse-breaker."

"Yeah... oh, that was a bad argument."

"And they say you were a Slytherin," she said, smiling.

"They say you were a Hufflepuff," he shot back.

"The Hufflepuff traits are loyalty and hard work... that doesn't mean I can't poke fun at you! I'm loyal to the team and I work hard in my job."

"I particularly liked that latest charm you guys invented... when are you going to leak it?"

"We're not sure," said Falcon, frowning, "not for a few years, at least."

"Mere!" called Rith, "Snake! Come out here for a minute, we've got a puzzle for you!"

"Harry is not a _puzzle,_ Rith," Falcon admonished, "he's an injured boy!"

"Injured boy?" came a new feminine voice, "what happened?"

"Mere, you're not going to believe this," Falcon began, "but old Voldy hit him with an AK." Mere gasped.

"Yep," continued Rith, "but he lived and Voldemort didn't! He reflected the curse back onto its caster."

"Yes, but one, his parents both died, two, Voldemort isn't dead and three, there is now a painful looking wound on his forehead from where the curse struck!" came Falcon's heated reply.

"And we get to raise him!" said Rith just as cheerfully.

"That explains a great deal." A new voice came, neutral but with a slight hardness hidden in it. He had clearly suffered from the war.

"Snake," greeted Falcon, "would you like to help Mere, please? The darkness isn't leaving his forehead and it has been long enough that the residue should have gone by now..."

Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore were currently arguing. Dumbledore had been alerted by his wards that Harry had survived the killing curse and he had immediately set out for Privet Drive, a reluctant McGonagall trailing him- she disagreed with leaving the boy with the despicable muggles that she had been observing. Grudgingly, she admitted to herself that Dumbledore was probably right but she wasn't going to tell him that. There was a loud roar overhead, just after she had discovered that Dumbledore had sent _Hagrid _of all people to go and collect him. She looked up and saw that the man was sitting astride a giant,_ flying_ motorcycle! And Dumbledore wondered why she felt uneasy leaving him the task!

"Ah, Hagrid," Dumbledore was saying, "There were no problems, I trust?"

"Sir," the half-giant sniffed, "I went, but he was gone! Harry was gone. Here, they left a note for you," he said and passed the crumpled letter over to the aged headmaster. Dumbledore read through the letter, paling as he went further down. This was not good. Silently, he passed the note to Minerva, not trusting himself to speak. He didn't have to- as soon as the cat-animagus had scanned it, she burst out;

"What? What are you going to do? What do they mean we _might _see him when he's old enough for Hogwarts? Who is it? Were they really friends with Lily?" she was becoming hysterical, "Albus, what are you going to do... what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Minerva, I just don't know," he said heavily, "we can only hope that they do not mean Harry harm. We will try to trace him, of course, though there is a possibility that the tracks might have been lost by now... then we can check with every one of Lily and James' friends."

"That we are aware of," muttered Minerva darkly, "is that really all we can do?"

"Alas, yes. If the boy is not currently residing with Death Eaters-" she gasped, "it would be foolish to alert them to the fact that the boy is missing. Somehow, the knowledge of what he has done has leaked out to the rest of the world, though the effects of the rebounding curse are unclear... we shall simply tell the Wizarding World that he has gone into hiding as there are still many people around that would wish him harm and that he will return when he is ready." Minerva sniffed again, but nodded uncertainly.

"I- yes, you're right, of course," she said heavily, "I just feel so bad, leaving him!"

"There, there, Minerva," said Dumbledore, "we won't stop looking until we find him." Hagrid let out a large sniff, reminding them of his presence.

"I jus' 'ope you find 'im, Headmaster Dumbledore, sir," he said, "James' an' Lily's son is missin' I don' think I'll be able ter get to sleep any time soon."

"Alas, our presence here is no longer required," said Dumbledore, "and I see no point in remaining here."

Mere and Snake had been working on the little Harry for hours, with little results until now. Snake sat up, looking grave.

"As far as I can tell, this is a dangerous piece of the darkest magic that I believe it should be rated black... the only reason it is not is because not many people have even heard of it."

"And you have?" asked Falcon suspiciously, causing Snake to shoot her a dark glare.

"It appears that Voldemort has become so frightened of death that he split his soul into several pieces, hiding the fragments that have split off. If he is killed, his spirit still lingers on, making it entirely possible for him to return to a body. Now, if I am correct, When the curse rebounded onto him, a piece of his already unstable soul split off instead of killing him as the curse should have done. The piece of soul has gone for the only living being it could find."

"Harry," breathed Falcon in disgust.

"Quite," said Snake, looking equally disgusted, "that is what is called a horcrux. There are not many ways to defeat a horcrux and, quite unfortunately, most of them would kill Harry as well in the process."

"You can get rid of it, though, right?"

"It is dangerous," he said carefully, "but I believe that I could do it."

"what are you planning?" asked Falcon nervously. Snake was usually extremely sure of himself.

"You see how the piece of soul has gone for his mind?" Falcon nodded nervously, "well, what I am proposing is that we use legilimency to enter Harry's mind. If we have enough power between us, we should be able to force it out and into something else where we can destroy it properly." Falcon bit her lip. It sounded incredibly dangerous.

"What is likely to happen to Harry?"

"As his mind is still young and undeveloped, the risks are not as high as they could be. Still, there is a chance that we would damage his mind and it would not develop properly. That is worst case scenario. Best is that the older, more mature presences in his mind will cause it to mature a little quicker, allowing him to think more clearly and learn faster."

"Which one is more likely," asked Falcon nervously.

"Each has about a 40% chance of happening... 20% chance that his mind would remain the same." The young woman bit her lip.

"So you are saying that there is a 60% chance that this would be fine for Harry and that odd would decrease as he gets older."

"Yes," said Snake, "and we do have to get rid of it." Falcon nodded.

"I can see that," she said, "so who will do this? Snake, obviously, and myself... Rith? Mere?"

"Better just one of you," said Snake, "and I vote that Mere come with us. Rith, your job will be to contain the horcrux when we remove it. Mere's mind is a little more stable and I would prefer it to be her if people have to enter a young child's mind."

"Snake, listen to yourself," teased Mere, "I've never heard you care about a child before!"

"Be quiet," he snapped, "this boy is important, so we must do what we can to preserve his sanity. It has nothing to do with caring about him!"

"Of course, Snake," said Falcon, "so are we going to get this over with now?"

"On 3," said Snake, "1... 2... 3!" The cry of 'Legilimens!' came from all three adult witches and wizards, Falcon being guided by the other two into the infants mind as she had less experience. The three of them looked around- Snake and Mere looking for the soul piece and Falcon observing the child's mind. It was extraordinarily different to that of an adult's- large and spacious, with thoughts and memories moving around randomly with little structure. There was a small section, though, that was beginning to take shape.

"Found it," came Snake's voice, and now that she could see it, Falcon was amazed that she hadn't seen it before. It was small, yes, but a bright, sickly green and reeking of evil. It also seemed to be trying to take a hold over the young mind it was in, and she could see it slowly eating away at a strand of magic. They had to get it out of there!

"How do we get it out?" she asked nervously.

"I don't want to risk using magic," said Snake slowly, "as that could damage his mind... we're going to have to move it physically." Falcon, jumped, repulsed.

"Touch it?"

"Falcon!" said Mere, "your body in here is not really your own, just a representation of it. What's more important, you not touching that, or Harry's life and sanity?" Falcon gulped.

"Okay," she said determinedly, "let's do it." Mere nodded.

"On 3... 1... 2... 3!" said Snake and they all threw themselves at the soul piece. At first, it seemed incredibly easy- it had been taken by surprise. Very quickly, though, it began to fight back... and it was strong. The three of them lost a lot of ground before they managed to catch themselves and begin to put the effort back it. The abrupt fight of the soul had pushed them all off guard. Slowly, they began to force it backwards, but it wasn't easy. The soul had a lot of fight. Falcon was on the brink of exhaustion, and she was sure that Mere and Snake were feeling the same. She wasn't sure that they would make it. That was when Mere's words came flooding back.

"We have to do this," she cried, "For Harry! What's more important- our temporary exhaustion, or his life and sanity?" She would have sworn that she saw Mere smirk but a second later it was gone, replaced with an energy that had given the healer her name. Together the three of them managed to throw the piece of soul out of Harry's mind, and Falcon was sure that she had felt Harry's magic join in the fight. They slumped down, too exhausted to move, instead choosing to watch his mind. The strands of magic that the soul piece had been trying to chew away were slowly growing back, brighter than ever. The most extraordinary thing, though, were the thoughts and emotions... as well as the memories. They seemed to be moving faster than before, but not in random movements like they had before. No, the young child's mind was structuring itself incredibly.

"We have to get out of here," came Snake's panicked voice, "if it structures too much more while we are in here, he will start to have difficulty learning things because it is too developed! It already looks like the mind of a 5 year old instead of someone of his age!" Mere and Falcon leapt onto action, trying to get themselves out of his mind. Finally, they managed it, and stayed conscious just long enough to see Rith open his mouth to say something triumphantly before they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious from physical exhaustion. Harry himself was still asleep.

It was a whole day before they awoke, still feeling the effects of their exhaustion.

"Well, that could have gone worse," said Snake finally.

"That's good," said Falcon sleepily.

"No, I'm serious," he said, "his mind is more structured, so he will definitely be able to think more clearly and understand things that are more complex than most people his age... than everyone his age! I think my warning was a false alarm, though. The younger you are, the easier it is to learn new things and I don't think that part of his mind was 'aged' at all if you get my meaning. Technically, that means he will learn things well and quickly, and remember things better as well. The downside of that is that he did witness his parent's murder..."

"Ouch," winced Falcon.

"Oh, the poor boy!" said Mere.

"Hey, everyone," said Rith, coming in the door, "Silver announced that Harry will be living in the department. Everyone's pretty excited, actually, having a child around will certainly liven things up, and they all want a chance to teach their skill-" Rith snorted, "Harry's going to be the most well educated child ever to put the sorting hat on his head when he's eleven!"

"If we send him there," said Falcon, "though I think we will. Just that school is very narrow-minded... but we have 10 years until then!"

"That we do... so what's happening now?"

"Well, we'll need to get him a room somewhere... you could put some monitoring wards on it too, Rith!" Rith nodded, "then we try to give him as normal a childhood as possible. There's an 'outdoor' area around here somewhere, he can have some toys and play... muggle playgrounds when he's old enough to control his magic, probably... then we will have to teach him all of those lovely things that we all take for granted, such as how to speak, eat, and go to the bathroom..."

"Okay, okay, I get it, Falcon, you can stop!"

"Awww... is ickle Rithy embarrassed?" she smirked, "seeing as Snake thinks that you learn best when you're young, we might take the opportunity to teach him a few languages. Being multilingual is really important around here, especially in the magical world, I don't know why more people don't do it."

"I agree... you'll get Tongue to help you with that?"

"Obviously," she said, and Rith nodded.

"When he's older, we'll start teaching him control over his magic and everything else people want him to learn provided that it is not too old or dangerous for him. Silver wants to put him on the power boost rituals as well, see if they are more potent when you are younger."

"I know," said Rith, "I heard him say that to you... 'not that the knowledge will come to anything...' or something like that anyway.

"Mere and I are still here, you know," came Snake's voice, "and I have something that might interest you."

"What?"

"Look at his hair," Snake said, and they all turned to see Harry's hair changing colours, "he's a metamorphmagus. Definitely going to be one for the field, I can tell you. He'll need to start learning stealth and logic as soon as you can teach him that. Also, I saw that he has an animagus form while we were searching his mind, though I wasn't able to see what it was. By the time he's 9 or so, his growth should have slowed enough to teach him that."

"as long as he gets time to play like a normal child," said Mere, "I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to learn some of the more basic potions and other things that he will learn in his first few years of Hogwarts." Falcon shook her head.

"He can learn potions, sure, but we don't want him slipping into boredom while he's at school. Better that he learns things that they don't teach there, or that they don't teach for a few years." Mere conceded the point.

"So what happens now?" asked the healer.

"You stay here while Rith, Falcon and I go find the child a room and some supplies," said the Dark Arts expert, "Rith, you can get the... toys... and other things a child might like. I shall get furniture and Falcon- you look after finding a room." They nodded and went separate ways, leaving Mere to start singing to Harry in her native tongue.

**Thanks for reading! And, thanks to my wonderful new-found beta (my sister) who has graciously agreed to edit all of the stories that she likes. :/**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and please remember that reviews make authors happy! **

**(And force them to sit at the computer and so they have to keep writing :D)**

**Ok, see you all next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two;**_

The years passed, and Harry was growing up into a boy that his parents- and anyone that had the pleasure of knowing and raising- could be proud of. Extremely mature for his age, Harry loved to learn new things and skills, and delighted in learning new magic especially. He loved combat, but knew that it was not to be used to solve problems.

Tongue was on his way to pick up Harry from Muggle School and take him to karate. He was wearing his Unspeakable robes, so the muggles would notice and comprehend nothing further than Harry had been picked up by an adult- not that they knew his name was Harry. James Smith was a quiet, conscientious boy who picked things up in class very quickly. He didn't show off his knowledge, but everyone knew that it was there and the teachers had begun calling on him to answer questions on topics they had yet to cover, attempting- and failing- to find something that he didn't at least know the basics of. They had skipped him forward a few grades, but they were hesitant to continue doing that as the other students were beginning to feel odd being in the same class as someone James' age. Today, he was leaving the school.

Harry (also known as James Smith) could see Tongue waiting for him. Though he was wearing his Unspeakable robes, Harry could always tell them apart. Each member of the Unspeakables stood differently, held themselves differently. There were height differences as well, and muscle tone varied too. Harry noticed all of this, but he also noticed the 'vibes' coming off a person. Snake, for example, usually had a light, laid-back vibe about him, but Harry could detect the bitterness behind it. He reached Tongue and smiled at the man.

"How was school?" the older man asked in Gaelic; a precaution in case any of the muggles heard a snatch of their conversation.

"It was good," Harry replied, "We started algebra and it was easy... Arithmancy is much harder, so it was good. Nick and Daniel were good, too, we played football. I was a striker because I'm so much smaller than the others... well; they are all three years older. I met a guy called Thomas, too, but he only wanted help with his homework. That's what most people want."

"Hey, don't worry about that, Pyro, they're not worth your time. Nick and Daniel don't want that do they?"

"No," said Harry, "It doesn't help that I'm so much younger, though. It's not 'cool' to associate with me. I'm glad it's Friday, anyway; I fell today and I lost a lot of energy- it's getting difficult to hold my disguise, I'll need to rest tomorrow."

"Do you need to miss karate?"

"No, I'll be fine. It's not urgent, but I doubt that I would make a whole day before I lost control and my hair and eyes reverted back. The nose is easier to keep." Tongue nodded.

"Hey, I just remembered- is it possible for muggles to do legilimency?" Tongue was concerned.

"Did something happen today?"

"The new English teacher... she... it was like legilimency, but she only seemed to be searching for my emotions. It was weird, but my shields held." Tongue nodded.

"That's not legilimency, it's a skill called Empathy. You can feel empathy, but then there's Empathy, which is different and some more magically inclined muggles do it subconsciously. The other muggles just take it as them being good at reading people and they get the better jobs in child and health care. Anyway, they are able to pick out someone's emotions, unless they do what you did. Empaths are rare in the muggle world but even more so in the magical world, though they are stronger in the magical world as well. Mere is one."

"Really?" asked Harry, interested, "that would be cool."

"Not all the time," Tongue warned, "Mere says that it is quite easy to be overwhelmed by other's emotions and she has to discipline her mind extremely well. It's also the reason you will never find an Empathic auror or Field Unspeakable; the emotions run highest when you have high adrenaline levels." Harry nodded, understanding what was being said.

"Okay," he said, "but it's still really useful. You should get Empaths working in Intelligence; that would be really useful."

"We do sometimes, but remember what I said about them being rare?" Harry nodded, "Mere is the only Empath in the Unspeakables at the moment and there is no way she would be willing to work in intelligence. Too worried about everyone else's health." Harry laughed.

"I just imagined her going in to get intelligence from a hostile party... and spotting an old injury." Tongue smirked.

"She'd be all over them, and forget what she went in for," he agreed, "which building is it?"

"Uh, that one over there, with the picture of a person kicking."

"Right," said Tongue, "Why don't they just put a sign up?"

"They do," Harry replied, rolling his eyes, "you just can't see it from here, the pizza sign is blocking your view of it." Tongue suddenly had embarrassed vibes rolling off him. Harry shook his head.

"Never mind," he said, "You can leave me here if you like. It's not that far, you can see the place and if we keep walking at this speed, I'll be late!"

"Okay, Runi will be here in an hour to pick you up," he said, "so don't try to get back on your own."

"Hey," Harry complained, "I did that once!"

"So don't do it again," Tongue shot back, before melting into the shadows, "See you, Pyro!" Harry shook his head and walked towards the Karate studio, mentally re-programming himself to switch back to English- it would be odd if he tried to speak in Gaelic.

"Oi, James!" a voice jerked himself out of his thoughts, "James!" He turned around.

"Hey, Tim! How are you?"

"Good, though the teachers set way too much homework today. You never told me that 4th grade had to do so much work," he complained, and Harry smirked. He knew that Tim wasn't asking for help.

"You should try 7th grade," said Harry, "besides, why should I warn you? Technically, I should be starting 4th grade as well, so _technically,_ I shouldn't have any knowledge about how hard- or easy- that grade is!" Tim grumbled under his breath.

"Fine," he said, "so how's high school, anyway?"

"Easy," Harry smirked, "though apparently most people don't agree with me. Honestly, it's the first week and people are _already _asking me for help with their homework!" Tim whistled.

"Tough luck, mate, that's rough."

"Yeah," agreed Harry, "anyway, we should go in now or we're going to be late."

"You and your internal clock," said Tim, but they sped up anyway, heading for the doorway.

At the same time as Harry was doing his weekly karate lesson, a group of people were huddled together discussing him.

"I don't think we're going to find him," said a woman with black hair, "whoever took him has hidden him for 8 years already and we have never found even the slightest hint of his existence. No records with his name on it, magical signatures or trails, sightings, nothing! I think it would be best to just see if his name comes up for Hogwarts in 2 years time."

"Minerva!" someone said, aghast.

"I'm not saying I like it!" she defended, "In fact, I think it's a terrible option! But it's been _eight years_. How likely is it that we will find him?"

"I don't understand why we even bothered searching for the brat in the first place," a man with dark, greasy hair and a large hooked nose said, "the world is better off without a Potter darkening it."

"Severus!" the same person admonished.

"Yes, Molly?" he sneered.

"How can you be so cruel? He is a child! A child who will remember neither his mother nor his father."

"He will be exactly like James Potter; not knowing the man will not change anything."

"Severus, you are talking nonsense," said Molly, "He will grow up to be the sort of person he was raised to be, and a James Potter clone is highly unlikely, no matter who is raising him."

"Unless Lupin got his hands on the boy," he sneered.

"All the better for him. Remus _grew up. _He saw the results of his actions, and if he has Harry, he will not raise the boy to repeat his actions."

"That's all you know."

"Severus, Molly, enough!" cried Dumbledore, "all you are succeeding in doing is giving me a headache. Minerva, is there any chance of setting it up so the quill believes he should be getting a letter now?" Minerva bit her lip.

"A confundus charm might work," she said, "and I can try... I'll go get the quill now." Dumbledore nodded and leant back in his chair as they all watched Minerva leave the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts to pick up the quill charmed to address the Hogwarts letters. She didn't take long, and was soon pack, puffing and red in the face but holding the famed quill. She handed it to Dumbledore who placed it on a square of parchment in front of himself.

"Confundus," he said, and they watched. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, finally, it began to write. They all leant forward, to see that it had written _Harry Potter. _Nothing else. Dumbledore sighed.

"At least we know that he's alive," he said slowly, "but the wards protecting him are incredible... even the quill can't find him."

Everyone, minus Severus Snape was visibly disappointed- though no one noticed the satisfied smirk on Madam Pomfrey's face.

"Duck!" Harry ducked.

"Good! Duck… roll!" Harry ducked and rolled before he sprang to his feet again.

"Dodge!" Spellfire began raining down on the boy who ducked, dodged and rolled to get out of the way. He looked thoroughly exhausted, but the grin on his face showed how much he enjoyed it. It took half an hour until a well-aimed stunner hit the fatigued Harry in the shoulder, and he went down.

"Ennervate," the same voice said, and Harry stirred. A man stepped out of the shadows, a slight smile gracing his features as he held his hand out for Harry.

"Good job, Pyro," he said, "you lasted a lot longer than our new recruits, and I was sending more at you."

"Thanks," said Harry, "but I've had a lot of practice." There was something about the satisfied look on Harry's face that showed he didn't really care that he had been given more practice- he was proud of the fact that he could last longer.

"What are you doing now?" asked the man.

"I've got some work to do with Rith, then Homework," said Harry, "Rith's adamant that I be able to ward the whole of Hogwarts before I get there," he finished, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, that's Rith for you," said the man, "He's just ecstatic that he's got someone to pass all of his skills onto."

"True," Harry nodded, "but it's a little overwhelming. I like wards, and runes and all that, but he expects a lot of me when I don't even have a wand yet!"

"Hm," said the man, "You'll have to talk to Silver, but we need to see about that wand problem."

"Why?"

"Most pureblood children get their first wand around 8 or 9. It's only Ollivander that refuses to sell to anyone not entering their first year of Hogwarts, or that has already been through their first year and needs a replacement. It would be good for you to learn to use your wand, give you an edge when you get to Hogwarts."

"Really?" asked Harry intrigued, "I'd love to get a wand… but I never knew that the pureblood children got their wands early! Are their parents so afraid that a muggleborns will do better than them in class that they feel as though their children need three extra years of training?"

"Yes," said the man bluntly, "that's exactly what they think."

"So what happens if a muggleborns does do better than them in classes?"

"That depends on the family," said the man thoughtfully, "but it rarely ever happens, so I doubt that it is something to worry about. Snake mentioned something about a family punishing their child because a muggleborn girl was smarter. They boy got a beating and was not allowed to do anything other than study for the entire summer holidays."

"Wow," Harry whistled, "that's harsh. Who was the girl?"

"The people in this department like to refer to her as 'Flame,'" said the man, smirking slightly.

"My mum," said Harry proudly. The man nodded. "Thanks, Tank; I'd better go see Rith now, though."

"Have fun," said Tank, "be glad you're not learning from Runi!" Harry shuddered. Runi was brilliant with runes, if a little too enthusiastic, and her teaching methods a little extreme. Harry ran through the corridors, only stopping to apologise when he almost ran into a man and was at Runi's office in record time.

"Pyro," he called in his usual cheerful way, "come in!"

"Hey, Runi," Harry greeted him, "guess what?"

"What?" asked Runi, sounding genuinely interested.

"Tank told me to talk to Silver about getting a wand! He said that most purebloods my age have them."

"Really?" asked Runi, "that's brilliant! You can work on better wards with a wand, although your wandless skills are amazing!"

"Thanks," said Harry, "and I just remembered! Falcon said that I should be ready to find out my animagus form soon!"

"That's great, Pyro!" said Runi, "and now, would you like to focus on your lesson?" Harry blushed.

"Sorry, Runi, I guess I was a little excited," he said, "but I can focus now!" Runi chuckled.

"A little?" He asked, the amusement in his voice clear at the understatement. Harry blushed again, before sitting down in his regular seat across from Runi.

"What did we work on yesterday?" the Arithmancy Expert asked.

"You mean before the lesson was interrupted because I had to go to soccer training?"

"Concentrate, Pyro!"

"Sorry," said Harry, "err… we were talking about the benefits and drawbacks or warding stones."

"And they are?"

"Well, a warding stone will amplify the power of the wards, and they are more permanent. They allow you to use runes to strengthen them, and are harder to pull down as well as more permanent."

"Good," praised Runi, "and the drawbacks?"

"You can't move them and they are impractical to set up for temporary arrangements. If the stone is smashed or broken, then the wards will fall immediately. Plus, they're harder to alter, and really expensive."

"Excellent! So, what would you do to fix as many of those problems as you can?" Harry thought for a minute.

"Well, you could weave a non-ward stone ward into another that did use a warding stone… or weave multiple of each so that the wards will still hold if the stone is smashed and broken, and it makes them easier to alter because the non-ward stone ones can be changed quite easily."

"Good," said Runi, "but what problem does this create?"

"Err… it makes it easier for other people to avoid and bypass the wards because they can change the woven wards almost as easily as you can."

"Yes. Okay, now onto some new things!"

"Like what?" asked Harry curiously.

"Well," said Runi, you've been working on setting and disabling defensive wards… I think it's time to work on some offensive ones!"

"Aren't all wards defensive, though?" asked Harry curiously.

"Well, they are all meant to defend the place or thing they are warding," said Runi, "so we classify them by their effects. If they deter people, or stop them from entering by using a shield or something similar, they are defensive. If they stun you or bind you or mimic an offensive spell in any way, they are offensive wards."

"What if they're mimicking neither offensive nor defensive spells? Like a memory charm?"

"That's when it gets more complicated," said Runi thoughtfully, "It depends on what the purpose was when the ward was set. If the purpose was just to make the trespasser forget why they were there, then general it is a defensive ward. If it tries to do something a little more direct, it is usually offensive, though it varies depending on who set the ward." Harry nodded.

"I think I get it," the little boy said, "So what are we going to learn?" Runi smiled.

"I think it's about time you learnt to set up a ward that shoots paintballs at anyone not keyed into it!"

The man walked down the hall, attempting and failing to look confident. A few days ago, he had been 'Remus Lupin, the Dark Creature.' Now he was 'Wolf'- a member of the Strategic Planning section of the Department of Mysteries and a Werewolf to boot. He was still pinching himself to make sure that it was real, when the Department dropped the next bombshell on him. His best friend's son, Harry, was alive and well, living in the department and getting lessons from the different employees. As soon as he had discovered where Harry was and was now striding down the hallway, intent on getting to know the boy that could have easily been his nephew in everything but blood. He had no idea where the sudden boldness was coming from.

Wolf knocked on the door that said 'Runi- Team Warder and Arithmancy Expert.' The door swung open, and Lupin had only a few second to register the dead silence in the room before a loud 'SPLAT' was heard, and something painful collided with his chest.

"What?" he gasped, winded, before looking down to see a large splotch of green paint. 'SPLATTER!' another paintball red this time, collided with his thigh. Wolf had seconds to put a pain-numbing charm on himself before the hailstorm of paintballs of every colour began.

What felt like house after, but was really only a minute, the storm of paint stopped and Wolf was able to look up to see two people- ne man and a young boy- rolling on the floor laughing.

"Well done, Pyro, great job!" said the older man. The grinning boy beside him glowed for a second.

"Thanks," he said proudly, before looking up at Wolf, "Err… sorry, sir, that was my attempt at a paintball ward… I didn't know that you were going to walk in." Though he looked contrite, there was still a spark of mischief in his eyes that Wolf would never have recognised if he had not known the boy's father- he had thoroughly enjoyed that show.

"No problem," said Wolf easily- and indeed, it wasn't. He had felt pain much worse than that before, and now that it was over, he had to admit that it was pretty funny, "that's the sort of thing your father would do."

"You knew my father?" The apologetic look was gone, replaced with eagerness. Harry really wanted to know more about his parents, that was for sure.

"Sorry," the little boy explained, "it's just that everyone here knew my mother, but no one knew anything about dad except that he died to save me. What's your name?"

"I'm Wolf," said Wolf, "and if you're done with Rith, I can tell you more about him."

"Our lesson's finished," said Rith, "just make sure you get your homework done, Pyro, and don't forget that you've got rowing in the morning, and soccer after that."

"I won't," said Harry, "so, can you please tell me more about my father?"

"Of course," said Wolf, "let's go. Do you want to come to my office?"

"Okay," said Harry, "when did you join the department?"

"I just joined today," said Wolf, "but I was approached three days ago by Silver. My office is just down here." Harry nodded and followed the man through the corridors. Though Wolf didn't know it, the excited and childish face that Harry put on was a mask. Inside, he was trying to work out why Wolf was so different. The 'vibes' coming off him were different from anyone else he had ever met. The closest he had ever come was the day that Majoris had pointed out a vampire, though it was different to that. It was… no, Harry couldn't work it out.

"Are you coming, Ha- Pyro?" asked Wolf when he realised that Harry was falling behind.

"Sorry," said Harry, "I'm coming!"

"We're almost there, anyway," said Wolf when Harry caught up, "I'm just this door here," he said, pointing at the door on Harry's left. It took him a few seconds to realise why the door was so different to all of the others. They all had silver handles, but this one was bronze. Harry filed it away for future reference, and instead looked up at the brass nameplate.

_Wolf_

_Strategic Planning_

_DOM_

"Come in," said Wolf, "sit down." Harry nodded and sat down in one of the comfortable-looking armchairs in the room. His finger idly traced a long, partially concealed scratch that went the length of the new chair. That was filed away before he looked up at the man in front of him. He had taken off his Unspeakable robes, and Harry could see the true Wolf.

"My true name is Remus Lupin," he said, "and I was best friends with your father at Hogwarts. We had two other friends, Peter Pettigrew-"

"That traitor," Harry growled.

"I'm sorry?" asked Lupin, shocked.

"What? Pettigrew was the secret keeper that betrayed my parents… and me," he said.

"But- I- I thought it was Sirius!"

"No," Harry shook his head, "They switched because Sirius was too obvious. They never told anyone. The plan was to let Voldemort go after Sirius while Pettigrew stayed hidden in the shadows, the true secret keeper."

"Are you sure?" asked Lupin, still sceptical.

"Yes," Harry nodded, "Falcon knew the truth, and Sirius told me."

"How? He's in Azkaban!"

"No, he's not," said Harry, "the Dementors are guarding an extremely clever illusion, have been for eight years."

"My god," said Lupin, "I thought he was the secret-keeper… I betrayed him. How, though? His trial…"

"He never got one," said Harry, "he was sent to Azkaban as soon as he was found on the street. Anyway, we can talk about Sirius later, you were going to tell me about my father," he said, not trying to sound demanding, but not allowing Lupin to brood.

"Of course," he said, "well, Sirius was our other friend. The four of us called ourselves the marauders, and we made it our business to prank the school constantly, though I am ashamed to admit that we tended to target the Slytherins more often and with the crueller pranks. Your father was excellent at transfiguration, and the best pranks were designed by him, using some extremely clever transfiguration. There was this time, when James decided to prank Pettigrew. They had just discovered their animagus forms and Pettigrew was a rat. James put a transfiguration on about half of Pettigrew's things and set it to touch activation. Every time Pettigrew went to get one of the things James had pranked, it transformed into small grey rat and began squeaking to the tune of Pettigrew's favourite song. It was so funny, seeing all those identical little rats all squeaking out songs in time…" he trailed off, and Harry was left with the amusing picture in his head.

"What James found out later, though, was that Sirius had discovered his little prank, and added in his own part. He had added time-delay colour change charms to all of them, so when the transfiguration wore off, all of Pettigrew's belongings were a fluro pink and purple." Harry snickered.

"Every boy's favourite colours," he said with amusement.

"Indeed," said Lupin, "and most of their pranks were highly amusing. However, be careful. If you are going to follow him in his footsteps, remember to stop before you cross the line between pranks and cruelty." Harry nodded.

"I know," said Harry, "and Falcon said that my dad crossed the line a more than once. I don' want to do that as well."

"You knew?" asked Lupin. Harry shook his head.

"I knew that he pulled pranks and was sometimes cruel, but nothing else. I didn't even know who his friends were, except for Sirius."

"You said that you've spoken to Sirius," said Lupin, "didn't he tell you anything?" Harry shook his head.

"No," the little boy said, "he was pretty upset that it was his actions that supposedly sent dad to his death and feels too guilty to talk about him."

"That's ridiculous," said Lupin, "he shouldn't feel guilty! I need to talk to that man… do you know where he is?" Harry smirked.

"I believe you've seen him quite a few times already," he said, "goes by the name of Grim."

"The Field Operative?" asked Lupin in amazement, before shaking his head, "I should have known, he wouldn't have fit in anywhere else." Harry smirked again, knowing that Lupin was right.

"Well, I'll leave you too it… as Rith said earlier, I have quite a bit of homework to do, and I've got rowing in the morning." Lupin nodded.

"Okay, Pyro," he said distractedly, "have fun."


End file.
